


The Fisherman & The Mermaid

by Braincoins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, MerMay 2018, amputation but we don't see it in grisly detail, at least that's what I was going for, broganes, fairy tale-esque, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 08:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14588856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: The sea holds many surprises.





	The Fisherman & The Mermaid

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the Anon on Tumblr who reminded me that it was MerMay! I didn't have anything planned out, so I threw together this little fairy tale. Well, I tried to make it like a fairy tale; not sure how well I succeeded. 
> 
> Also, my usual wise & talented beta is buried under exams ('tis the season), so this hasn't been beta'd at all. Lo siento!  
> ==============

            Once upon a time, there was a young man named Shiro. He lived in a small fishing village with his younger brother, Keith. Their father had been a fisherman who had died at sea; their mother had recently taken ill and passed away. Shiro had to provide for himself and his brother, so he followed in his father’s footsteps and took to the sea.

            But he was not the only fisherman in the village. Competition was fierce. Shiro went out farther into the ocean and stayed out later than the others, not coming home until well after dark. He didn’t get much, but he got enough to keep them from starving. Barely.

            Then came a day when it was going to storm. Everyone knew it; being raised near the ocean, you learned to tell these things. The other fisherman decided not to risk going out that day at all. But Shiro went. No one else to fight for fish with, and he needed the food and the coin for Keith. He set his small boat out to sea, intending to return when the storm came.

            The storm swept in suddenly. The winds howled in full-throated fury and the waves snapped like whips. The rain was sharp and cold. He tried to return to shore with his catch, but the boat flipped over. Shiro and his nets full of fish were thrown into the water.

            Even though he was a strong swimmer, the violent waves pulled him down. Every time he tried to return to the surface, it was like he was slapped down again. He felt stinging pain along his arm and cried out reflexively, but he was underwater. There was no air. There was no escape. He could feel himself fading.

            He awoke in a sea cave, up on a ledge of rock. The water came right up to the ledge. It was dark in here, but dry. The storm was still raging outside.

            It took his eyes time to adjust to the dim light, but when they did, he noticed that he was not alone. There was someone in the water, staring at him. He could only see the top of their head and their eyes.

            “Hello?”

            The head rose up out of the water a bit more. She looked female, with long hair and a curious smile. She seemed a little afraid of him.

            “I was…” He looked around again, then back to her. “I was drowning. Did you save me?”

            She nodded but didn’t speak.

            “Thank you. I’m Shiro. What’s your name?”

            She shook her head.

            “Why were you out there in the storm? Why don’t you come up here, onto the rock where it’s dry?”

            She shook her head again and then, suddenly, he saw a tail, as of a huge fish, rise up out of the water behind the young woman. She swam up to the ledge and used her hands to push herself out of the water more; the first thing he noticed was that she had no clothes on, but then he could see that, around her waist, her skin faded into fish scales.

            “You’re… you’re a mermaid.”

            She let go, dropping back into the water so only her shoulders were visible, and nodded.

            “And you can’t talk to me?”

            She shook her head.

            “Well, still, thank you for saving me. I should…” He realized his situation suddenly and groaned. “My boat! My catch! How am I going to feed Keith now?”

            She cocked her head at him.

            “Oh, uh… he’s my younger brother. We don’t have parents anymore; I’m all he has. And now I’ve probably lost our boat.”

            She shook her head.

            “No?”

            She raised a hand up, flattened it, and let it rest on the water, as if it were bobbing. Then she moved her hand towards the rock ledge and up onto it a little.

            “Are you saying you pushed my boat back to land?”

            She nodded, smiling.

            He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you! I suppose you couldn’t save my catch though. My nets… everything’s probably at the bottom of the ocean by now.”

            She frowned, then held her hands out to him before diving back into the water. He had no idea what she meant to do, but with the storm going on out there, it wasn’t like he could leave anyway. When she went, what little light there had been went with her. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, but he was truly left in the dark now.

            His right arm stung and he tried to inspect it, but all he could tell was that it hurt and throbbed. Touching it only made it worse, so he left it alone and tried to ignore the pain. He passed the time trying to wring out his clothes a little, but then he realized he’d probably have to swim out of the cave to leave, so he gave up on that. Mostly, he just sat there and thought about how he was going to explain this to everyone. No one would believe a mermaid had saved him. They were myths, and usually not very friendly ones.

            But then she came back, with a bag of woven seaweed. She held it up to him and, when he accepted it from her, motioned for him to overturn it. When he spilled its contents out onto the rocks, the wan light that she brought with her showed a pile of deep-ocean seaweed and a small pile of pearls.

            He looked back to the mermaid. “For me?”

            She nodded.

            He held up a long, slimy tendril of seaweed. “This is… this is widow’s fingers. It helps menstruating women.” He dropped that and pulled up another one, peering at it. “Oceancomb, good for pain relief and breaking fevers.” He smiled at her. “Thank you. I can sell these. And the pearls! I… I can never thank you enough.”

            Was it his imagination, or was she blushing? Hard to tell in here.

            “Why would you help me?”

            She bit her lower lip but then shrugged and shook her head.

            “Too hard to tell me without words?”

            She nodded.

            “I understand.” He sighed and looked out at the storm, finally starting to die down. “I don’t know this cave. Do you know which way the village is from here?”

            She nodded and pointed.

            “Is it far?”

            She shrugged.

            “Not when you’re half-fish, it’s not?” he guessed.

            She stuck her tongue out at him and splashed some water in his direction.

            “Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” he laughed. “I shouldn’t tease my savior.”

            She folded her arms and nodded once.

            “Is there any way I can repay you?”

            She smiled, started to nod, but then stopped and shook her head.

            “Are you sure?”

            She nodded, then turned to look out at the storm. She swam out to the cave entrance and looked around. She came back to him and nodded her head in the direction she’d indicated the village was.

            “You’re sure it’s safe now? I already almost drowned once today.”

            She rolled her eyes and pointed in the same direction.

            “Okay, I trust you! I’m going.” He put the seaweed and pearls back in the bag she’d brought. “Thank you so much. You’ve helped me _and_ my younger brother.”

            She beamed, then turned and dove under the water. He slid into the water and went under to try to see her, but in the darkness, he couldn’t make out anything. He went back up to the surface and swam home.

            He found his boat beached not far from his house, though, as he’d feared, missing all of his equipment. The mermaid had been clever enough to find the oars and toss them in, at least. He went to check in on Keith and told him what had happened. The boy didn’t believe him at first, but when Shiro produced the seaweed bag, Keith’s eyes went wide as saucers. “But we can’t tell anyone,” Shiro warned him, “or they’ll think I’ve lost my mind.” Keith agreed.

            They went into town to sell the seaweed and pearls, then stopped by the doctor to have the cut on his arm looked at. It was larger than Shiro had thought at first and already infected; the doctor thought he must have sliced it on an old rusty anchor on the seabed.

            There was nothing for it; the arm would have to go – and quickly, before the infection spread further. Keith refused to leave his brother’s side, even during the amputation. They had to take a lot of the arm, to make sure they got all of the infection. The money from the seaweed and pearls barely covered the operation and the medicine Shiro would have to take. They returned home penniless and despondent.

            Keith wanted to take over fishing, but Shiro said no. The ocean was dangerous to men, let alone boys, and they had no nets, no lines, no basket to hold the catch in. Shiro stayed up late into the night trying to think of what to do.

            In desperation, he sought out the sea cave the next day, hoping the mermaid would be there. It was weird swimming with only one arm, but he pushed himself. He stayed all day, but she never showed up, and eventually he went home to fix a meager supper for Keith and go to bed.

            He went back the next day as well, only to face the same empty cave. As he had the day before, he returned home as the sun started to set. They had little food; he told Keith he ate while he was out, so his brother could have a bigger portion. He didn’t sleep well that night.

            On the third day, he was determined to stay until the mermaid showed up, no matter how long that might be. He swam out to the cave early and waited, trying to ignore his empty belly. He prayed for the mermaid to come back, prayed for an answer, for some sign of something he could do. But days of little sleep and no food combined with a lot of swimming and walking to and from the cave were taking their toll on him. He drifted off to sleep, despite the uncomfortable rock of the cave.

            When he awoke, it was night… and the mermaid was there.

            “Oh, thank heavens! I was afraid I’d never find you again!”

            She cocked her head and pointed at his missing arm, frowning sadly.

            “They had to cut it off. It got injured when I went down in the storm; it was infected.” He sighed. “You saved me, and the money I made selling what you gave me covered the doctor’s bills. But we’re starving, and I can’t fish anymore. There’re no nets, no lines, no anything, and even if there were…” He raised what remained of his arm in demonstration. “I wouldn’t be much good at them now. I know I’ve imposed upon you so much already, but if there’s anything you could do to he-…”

            She held her hands up to him again, then turned and dove back into the water. A couple hours later, she returned with another bag with even more seaweed and pearls, as well as some shells.

            Shiro thanked her profusely, even as he felt guilty for having to take more of her generosity after she’d already saved his life. She smiled at him sympathetically. “You’re nicer than a lot of humans are.”

            Her eyes crinkled in amusement.

            “I wish I could see you better.”

            She brightened and dove into the water again. She resurfaced outside the cave, beckoning him. He had to leave that way to go home anyway, so he took the bag and swam awkwardly out to her. And, out there in the light of the full moon, he could finally see her.

            Her eyes were the blue of a summer sky, her hair the color of the moon’s reflection on the night waters. He discovered that it was her scales that gave her that faint glow.

            “You’re beautiful,” he told her.

            She blushed and smiled and then shooed him in the direction of the village.

            “Okay, you’re right. I have to go feed my little brother.” He hesitated and then asked, “Will you be here again tomorrow?”

            She bit her lip in thought, but then nodded.

            He thanked her again and swam off.

            Every night for three nights, he visited the cave. And every night, the mermaid was there to meet him with more pearls, more luminous shells, more medicinal seaweed. But on the third night, when she tried to hand him her bag of treasures, he shook his head and pushed the bag away.

            “I can’t keep taking from you like this and giving nothing back in return. I don’t even know _why_ you’re helping me.”

            She set the bag down on the rock ledge, then swam away a little before beckoning him into the water.

_She hasn’t drowned me yet_ , he thought, and so he slid into the water and swam over.

            She smiled as he drew near, slid her arms over his shoulders, and kissed him.

            He was surprised, but her lips were surprisingly warm (if salty), and he found himself holding her (as best he could) and returning her kiss. And when she pulled away, blushing, he said, “Well… I guess that explains why you’re helping me.” His face was hot. “But nothing changes the fact that I’m just taking from you. I don’t want to do that. I want to be able to do things on my own.”

            She brightened and nodded, kissed him again once and swam off. He didn’t see her again for the rest of the night. As dawn neared, he returned home, wondering what she was up to, and whether he’d ever see her again.

            He came back to the cave the next night to find her waiting for him, but with an empty bag and a curiously-glowing jellyfish. She let him rest on the ledge for a bit, then beckoned him into the water again. He slid back into the water, and she swam up to kiss him again. But once their lips were joined, she pulled him under the water. He didn’t fear, because she had never been anything but nice to him, but that all changed when he felt the jellyfish’s tendrils wrap around his throat.

            It sent a jolt through him, almost like a full-body slap, but he had no sooner felt pain than it was gone again. The jellyfish and the mermaid both let go, and he returned to the surface. “What was that?!” he asked when she joined him above the water.

            She made a diving motion with her hand, then pointed at him.

            “You want me to go underwater again.”

            She nodded.

            So he shrugged and dove underwater, then came back up.

            She shook her head at him and headed for the open ocean just outside the cave. He followed her. When he reached her, she made the diving motion again. So he did it again, staying down a little longer this time, and came back up.

            She shook her head again.

            “What?”

            She made the diving motion a third time, and this time when he went under, she was right there next to him. She swam alongside him until he tried to resurface. She shook her head, hair flowing, and grabbed hold of him.

            Shiro was confused. She was refusing to let go, and she was surprisingly strong. He tried to kick his way back up, but she held him close and wrapped her tail around him. _NOW she wants to drown me? Why? I don’t understand!_ Regardless, he knew he was going to run out of air.

            But he didn’t. Long moments passed of her holding him beneath the waves, and he realized he could breathe just fine. When he looked at her in shock, she beamed, let go of him, and headed back up. He followed her.

            “I can breathe underwater?” he asked when he cleared the surface.

            She shrugged and smiled. Then she made the diving motion again before diving in herself. He gladly followed her.

            By the light of her scales, she showed him the ocean’s bounty. Every night he went out with her and she would show him something new: how to dive for pearls, how to find abandoned shells, even where different varieties of seaweed could be found. He became used to swimming with only one arm.

            And during the day, he would sell what he’d found the night before. Pearl-driving and seaweed farming brought in more money than fishing ever had. He and Keith no longer had to worry about going hungry, and Shiro started expanding and improving their small seaside shack. But every night, without fail, he would go to the cave to kiss and hug the beautiful mermaid before they set out to see what they could gather together.

            After a few weeks of this, he sighed and confessed, “I wish I could talk to you. Or even just know your name.”

            She brightened, held her hands out to him – asking him to stay – and swam off, leaving him alone again. She came back in a couple of hours with a sea shell full of… something. She held it out to him and made eating motions.

            He eyed the slimy and disgusting contents of the shell but did as she had bade him. It did _not_ taste good. “Ugh, what _was_ that?”

            She indicated that he should dive before doing so herself. He went in after her.

            As soon as they were underwater, he heard a soft voice in his head, excited and happy. _“Now we can talk!”_ Her lips didn’t move at all.

            _“We can talk?”_ he couldn’t help wondering to himself.

            _“Yes!”_ She swam over and kissed him.

            _“You can hear my thoughts?”_

_“When you direct them to me,_ ” she told him.

            He smiled. _“It’s so good to hear your voice. Sort of. It’s lovely by the way. But can you only speak underwater?”_

            She nodded. _“We aren’t meant to be out of the water, really. Being up on the surface, it’s like my head is cloudy.”_

            He stayed underwater with her. _“I’m dying to know your name.”_

_“Allura, and you are Shiro.”_

            _“Good to know you understand what I’m saying. Why did you save me?”_

_“I thought we covered that.”_

He grinned. _“You just wanted to kiss me?”_

She shrugged. _“More than that. We tend to stay away from the surface during the day, when all the humans are out. But you were still out at night, and far from shore. I was scared at first, wondering what you were still doing out when the rest of your kind had left. So I watched. You seemed …afraid. Desperate. Alone. I felt bad for you._

_“When there is a storm, we can play during the day, because there are no humans around. But you were out there, with no one to help you. I couldn’t just let you die.”_

_“Oh.”_ He was stunned. _“W-well, thank you again.”_

_“You’re very welcome. It’s been nice, getting to know you.”_ She reached a hand over to his cheek. _“You are sweet. Far sweeter than any other merfolk I know.”_

He blushed.

            They continued on like that for months, and Shiro had never been so happy. Keith teased him about his courting a mermaid, but he couldn’t really deny it. Then one night when he met up with her, she was sad. _“The currents are shifting. My family is leaving,”_ she told him.

_“You’re going away?”_ It felt like he’d just taken an arrow to the heart.

_“I don’t want to. I want to stay with you.”_

_“Then stay,”_ he insisted, holding her close to him. “ _I love you.”_

            She brightened. _“If you truly do, then come and meet my father. Now, tonight.”_

            He agreed without asking further and followed her out into the ocean.

            She was willing to let him stop and gather along the way, but mostly they swam far, far out into the ocean, until the shore was a distant memory. The sun was high overhead when she led him to a large underwater grotto filled with merfolk. They stared at him as he passed and whispered behind his back.

            She took him deep inside the grotto until they found a very impressive merman: strong and large, and clearly Allura’s father, judging by how similar they looked to each other. Shiro let Allura do the talking.

            Apparently, she hadn’t told her father before now what she’d been up to. She explained to him about watching Shiro, saving him, helping him, and loving him. Her father – Alfor, she had introduced him as – did not look pleased.

            He demanded to hear from Shiro himself, and hours passed as Shiro answered every question the merman asked of him. The last question was about his feelings, and Shiro confidently told Alfor that he loved Allura and would never let any harm come to her.

            Alfor considered this. “My daughter cannot be parted from the sea,” he told Shiro. “But I can make it so that, by day, she is as human as you are. As night falls, she must return to the ocean, and she will become a fish during that time. You must protect her from your fellow humans who would catch and eat her.”

            Shiro swore on his life that he would, and Alfor gave them his blessing as well as a luminously iridescent clam shell, closed. “She must eat what is inside there. I suggest you wait until daylight and when she is close to shore; it will take effect very quickly.”

            Allura hugged her father; she and Shiro both thanked him. He said he would be back to visit as the currents allowed, and the two of them headed back. By now it was night once more, and the day would be half over when they returned. They went to the cave, where she stayed with the clam shell while Shiro returned to his brother.

            Keith had been very worried and gave Shiro quite the earful! But then Shiro explained why he’d been gone. He and Keith went into town to get something for Allura to wear. He ate and made himself sleep. The next morning, Shiro told Keith to wait on the beach until he returned. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

            He went back to the cave, where Allura was waiting for him. He kissed her and held her, then offered the clam shell to her. She opened it and ate the contents; Shiro didn’t think it looked much more appetizing than what he had eaten to be able to speak to her.

            The transformation was sudden; at first Shiro was worried that she’d been poisoned and was dying. But when it was over, she had two legs and no tail, and Shiro helped her climb up onto the rock ledge. He held her and rocked her and stroked her hair. He kissed her and hugged her, and she was happy in his arms.

            They swam back to the beach, where Keith was waiting for them with a clean, dry dress and some towels. Shiro helped Allura dry off and get into the dress, then the three of them walked back home. Shiro kept his arm around Allura to help her steady herself; she wasn’t used to walking.

            “So, you’re going to be my brother’s wife?” Keith asked her.

            Shiro heard her answer in his mind, even though they were out of the water, but realized Keith couldn’t hear her. “She says she hopes so.”

            “What do _you_ say?” Keith asked him with that annoyingly-knowing smirk.

            “I say I wouldn’t marry anyone else.”

            She smiled and nearly toppled them over trying to kiss him. Keith just laughed.

            The three of them worked out a language of hand gestures and signs to be able to communicate with each other, and for Allura to communicate with the rest of the village. No one was quite sure where the beautiful mute girl came from - the most common theory was that she was the only survivor of a shipwreck. They also didn’t know that she and Shiro went back to the sea cave every night so that Shiro’s wife could turn into a fish and swim about in safety.

            All the villagers knew was that the two of them were a lovely couple who had a beautiful family and that they were happy there by the sea, together, for the rest of their lives.

**THE END**


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